Welcome to the UFC: Montserrat Rendon

By
Shawn Bitter
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amires Vidal of Brazil and Montserrat Rendon of Mexico UFC Vegas 79
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 22: (L-R) Opponents Tamires Vidal of Brazil and Montserrat Rendon of Mexico face off during the UFC Fight Night weigh-in at UFC APEX on September 22, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Making her debut at UFC Vegas 79 on Saturday is women’s bantamweight Montserrat Rendon, who is set to take on Tamires Vidal. The Fight Night card is headlined by lightweights Rafael Fiziev and Mateusz Gamrot, with a solid co-headliner in Bryce Mitchell vs. Dan Ige.

Montserrat “Monster” Rendon
Standing at five-foot-eight
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
34-years-old
Fighting out of Quintana Roo, Mexico
Training out of ECR Fight Center
A pro record of 5-0

How Rendon will fare in the UFC:

It’s no surprise to see Rendon signed to the UFC. With the UFC dipping more into the Mexican market Rendon was bound to get one of the call-ups. Also, Rendon is a bantamweight which the promotion badly needs more of.
In terms of her record, Rendon has been lucky as a few split decisions went her way. So lucky that I thought she clearly lost her last fight. Outside of MMA, Rendon also has competed in grappling bouts.
On the feet, Rendon has a good right hand but that’s about all she throws. Occasionally she will throw some kicks mixing it up but she is limited. She lacks all the fundamentals. Rendon throws that right hand with no set-up. She throws it back-to-back and fails to use feints/fakes before she lets it go. Rendon is low in volume hardly ever throwing in combinations. She needs work defensively because her head movement is stationary and she tends to be flat footed.
Rendon is labelled as a grappler but I’m not sure why. Her wrestling isn’t good and even on the mat, she’s stiff like she is on the feet. She’s loose in position control and is doesn’t really chase the finish when she gets it there. Rendon is barely winning fighter at a lower level so I’d imagine she’s going to struggle in the UFC.

How she matches up with Vidal:

If Rendon is going to beat anyone in the UFC it’s gonna be Vidal. She did win her UFC debut by a flying knee but it’s overblown. Neither fighter is technical on the feet and both are flat-footed. Vidal is more explosive which could be an advantage in this fight. The ground game is where she wants to be, but it doesn’t help that her wrestling isn’t up to par. Her takedown defense hasn’t looked good either and off her back there are problems. Honestly, there aren’t a lot of positives to point out with Vidal. This is not a UFC-level fight and I’m not sure which way to go. I’m going to side with Vidal because I think she will have the more impactful moments.

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